Coordinates: 53°44′36″N 2°23′37″W / 53.7434°N 2.3935°W / 53.7434; -2.3935

Oswaldtwistle ( /ˈɒzəl.twɪzəl/ "ozzel-twizzel") is a town within the Hyndburn borough of Lancashire, England. It lies on the course of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, 3 miles (4.8 km) east-southeast of Blackburn and is contiguous to Accrington.

The name is derived from "Oswald" and "Twistle". The word "twistle" is an old English word meaning "brooks meet". Legend has it that St.Oswald, King of Northumbria passed through, giving the area its full title of Oswald's Twistle, which in time came to be Oswaldtwistle. However, it is more likely derived from the name of the Anglo-Saxon who farmed the land.

Sir Robert Peel, 1st Baronet, who, as a factory-owner, effected wide developments in the cotton industry, was born at Peelfold, within the township, in 1750. Another historical figure associated with the textile industry was James Hargreaves, inventor of the Spinning Jenny.

The centre of Oswaldtwistle is home to a: Lloyds TSB, Betfred, Oswaldtwistle Clinic, Travis Perkins building merchants as well as a Co-Op supermarket, which was a Gateway, Solo and a Somerfield before becoming a Co-Op. Also there is a Tesco Express and a SPAR. Other stores include an appliance repairs/sales, numerous takeaways, numerous barbers (M & F), estate agents, off licences, bakers, butchers, funeral directors and many more shops.

Nigel Paul Farage ( /ˈfærɑːʒ/, FARR-ahzh; born 3 April 1964, Farnborough, Kent), is a British politician and is the Leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), a position he also held from September 2006 to November 2009. He is a Member of the European Parliament for South East England and co-chairs the Eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Farage is a founding member of the UKIP, having left the Conservative Party in 1992 after they signed the Maastricht Treaty. Having unsuccessfully campaigned in European and Westminster parliamentary elections for UKIP since 1994, he gained a seat as an MEP for South East England in the 1999 European Parliament Election — the first year the regional list system was used — and was re-elected in 2004 and 2009. Farage describes himself as a libertarian and rejects the notion that he is a conservative.

In September 2006, Farage became the UKIP Leader and led the party through the 2009 European Parliament Election in which it received the second highest share of the popular vote, defeating Labour and the Liberal Democrats with over two million votes. However he stepped down in November 2009 to concentrate on contesting the Speaker John Bercow's seat of Buckingham in the 2010 general election.